Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Ambrose Bierce
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 4, Bierce
17 January, 2007
"Suppose a man—a civilian and student of hanging—should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel," said Farquhar, smiling, "what could he accomplish?" (Ambrose Bierce 455)
This quote from Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge refers to an exchange between Farquhar, the Southern "victim," and the Northern soldier who is setting him up to be captured.
Farquhar sees his chance to get into the action and do something honorable for his Southern state of Alabama, having been "prevented [...] from taking service" (454) at an earlier occasion. Based on false information from the soldier, Farquhar hopes to set the bridge on fire by using accumulated driftwood, thereby hampering the progress of the Union Army.
Our friend Farquhar appears a pretty desperate fellow deeply in need of boosting his male ego. Farquhar would have a hard time explaining what he was doing at home at this time of crisis, no matter which side of the conflict he agreed with. Other men his age were all enlisted, like the soldier who has come by the plantation. Perhaps the soldier is offering up false information to Farquhar as an impulsive sort of revenge. I can imagine the rage such a man would experience had he come face to face with someone so securely tucked up at home in the midst of a war. Farquhar preposterously believes that he can alter the course of events by his single contribution. How arrogant!
Bierce refers to Peyton Farquhar as a "student of hanging" (455), managing to offer both a blow to (Southern) supporters of vigilante-style justice (read lynching) and a foreshadowing of events to follow. As a plantation owner he may very well have "studied" hanging on his very own land, during "lessons" featuring his very own slaves. However, Farquhar, who is all talk and no action, eventually must swallow a big dose of his own bitter medicine. The swift end bring s swift justice to the deserving Farquhar.
This fatalistic type of outcome of "karma is a bitch" reminds me very much of Flannery O’Connor’s stories: the Southern setting, the grotesque topic dripping with irony, the fable-like moral at the end.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 4, Bierce
17 January, 2007
"Suppose a man—a civilian and student of hanging—should elude the picket post and perhaps get the better of the sentinel," said Farquhar, smiling, "what could he accomplish?" (Ambrose Bierce 455)
This quote from Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge refers to an exchange between Farquhar, the Southern "victim," and the Northern soldier who is setting him up to be captured.
Farquhar sees his chance to get into the action and do something honorable for his Southern state of Alabama, having been "prevented [...] from taking service" (454) at an earlier occasion. Based on false information from the soldier, Farquhar hopes to set the bridge on fire by using accumulated driftwood, thereby hampering the progress of the Union Army.
Our friend Farquhar appears a pretty desperate fellow deeply in need of boosting his male ego. Farquhar would have a hard time explaining what he was doing at home at this time of crisis, no matter which side of the conflict he agreed with. Other men his age were all enlisted, like the soldier who has come by the plantation. Perhaps the soldier is offering up false information to Farquhar as an impulsive sort of revenge. I can imagine the rage such a man would experience had he come face to face with someone so securely tucked up at home in the midst of a war. Farquhar preposterously believes that he can alter the course of events by his single contribution. How arrogant!
Bierce refers to Peyton Farquhar as a "student of hanging" (455), managing to offer both a blow to (Southern) supporters of vigilante-style justice (read lynching) and a foreshadowing of events to follow. As a plantation owner he may very well have "studied" hanging on his very own land, during "lessons" featuring his very own slaves. However, Farquhar, who is all talk and no action, eventually must swallow a big dose of his own bitter medicine. The swift end bring s swift justice to the deserving Farquhar.
This fatalistic type of outcome of "karma is a bitch" reminds me very much of Flannery O’Connor’s stories: the Southern setting, the grotesque topic dripping with irony, the fable-like moral at the end.
# posted by Katja @ 4:55 PM 
